It’s Father’s Day. My husband’s first Father’s Day! It’s a monumental one for us. That’s us after a day filled with church, in-laws, steak and naps. Pretty much everything a man could want for dad’s day! Meat and sleep. Although, I’ve always secretly thought that Father’s Day should be on the opening day of football season or the world series. I think that would be the cherry on top for my hubby. Am I right, ladies?!

But this morning, rather than watching a game, my sweet hubs took a quick shower while I did dishes, he watched the babes while I made breakfast and then proceeded to work on the honey-do-list while I got ready for church.

And like most churches on Father’s Day, he wasn’t greeted with roses or the frills that mother’s get, but were greeted with a BRAVEHEART message.

You know what I’m talking about! The type of messages that makes a man feel like he can and will conquer the world.

I love sitting through those messages, and if you attended bedside church this morning, the link to hear the message is below.

But here is the brief synopsis: You must cultivate and conquer to grow.

I often sit through a message and ask myself how can I apply it as a business owner and a mother. It really hit home this time because I think it has been what I’ve been trying to put to words about the direction I’m headed in life.

Being a mother and business owner is a lot of responsibility. The verse about “to whom much is given, much is required,” often comes to mind. I feel the weight of it sometimes. How I run my business affects others. How I treat others is a clear representation of my business. My words and actions have weight. The same is true for motherhood.

Since January, my heart has desired to conquer much more than we actually have. Let me explain. We have an invitation business that I love. BUT I want a stationery line (greeting cards, gifts, etc) that stands for the things I believe in and reaches an audiences beyond Columbia, MO. We have a baby girl that I love. But I want to foster, adopt and have more kids because there is a tremendous need for loving homes.

This morning we dove into how things must be cultivated well before moving forward. It was so clear to me in that moment why I had felt for the last 6 months this need to do all things in excellence. I had dropped doing as many weddings so that I could do only a few weddings extremely well. We cultivated the bridal experience so that we could really get to know our brides and serve them above and beyond they ever hoped for. And guess what…It worked.

We have truly taken care of every single need they have had from save the dates to programs and menus. We have even gone with some of them to help set-up and make sure everything is 110%. Cultivating these relationships has been such a gift that has brought great rewards. We hardly ever crash any more because they become our friends and we are invited to their weddings. Ha! It has also give us time to start developing our own stationery line which has been a dream come true.

Cultivating motherhood has also been key in this season. We had planned to take fostering and adoption classes last spring, but really God had to grow me as a mom first. I don’t even think that I was aware of how selfish I could be! Sleep. Quiet Time. Coffee shops. Girl trips. They all went out the door. Now it’s… pool time, play dates and early nights. I had to learn how to care for my daughter. How to put her first. How to function on little rest and still respond with love and kindness. Cultivating motherhood has been essential for both Pearl and I.

See if we don’t cultivate the land (our current responsibilities first), how will we be able to handle the bigger things in life? How can we conquer if we do not cultivate first? It takes work and effort to move forward. Sometimes we feel like the progress is slow or we are going crazy, but as we cultivate we are able to move forward and FLOURISH!

So on to the conquering part… We finally designed a line to sell at a retail location, The Southern Rose. Guys, I cried! What an honor it was to work these boss ladies? PS. If you have never been there, you have to go! Their stuff is the cutest and you will never walk out empty handed- I know I don’t. We are also praying to have a full stationery line by 2018 and expanding our line nationally. (Lord willing.)

We are going through our first home assessment to foster/adopt on July 13th. I loose sleep over the excitement. We will also begin the 9 week courses in August and we are super nervous. We have cultivated being parents, moving into a bigger home and setting up the foster room. Guys, I also cried many a nights not feeling good enough. But here we are. Growing in parenthood and trusting the Lord. We hope to a sibling pair by the holidays. (Lord willing.)

I often find myself praying to God like David did in 2 Samuel 7:18.

“Who am I, O Sovereign LORD, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?”

Today, I am reminded that growing pains are part of cultivation. I hope that you are encouraged in the same way. That they must come before we move forward and conquer more territory.

We would love to hear from you today! What are you in the middle of cultivating in hopes of conquering? We would love to be praying for you to FLOURISH.